Challenge Mode Tips and Tricks Options

[Dive]

Well with the addition of Specials for S-Ranks now, it seems interest in C-Mode has picked up again. This thread will be used for everyone to give their hints to getting optimal time on the stages.

In Stage 4 when the team gets to the first junction and has to split up, a quicker way to do it would be to have the Hucast(or strongest Hu) go solo to the left. This room is usually populated by only one wave of monsters. The person left behind need only wait for the right team to activate the switch for the warp to appear. The solo player should not activate their switch so as not to confuse the player left behind.

Another that comes to mind that always seems to slow us down is the barrier puzzle in Area 17 of Stage 4. This is a very easy puzzle, but somehow it always gets messed up. Here is a map taken from Mamak to help explain it.

Step on the switches in the order shown.


As you can see it is quite simple if everyone knows where to go next. I suggest waiting a little extra time on your switch to ensure no one is left behind due to lag.

[Sheik]

Thanks for the tips...I remember this one got us last time we played C4...took a minute to get it right because we messed up and had to back track a little.

Other c-mode tips that you think would be helpful would be good to post here, since I am one of few that am new to c-mode. Can you believe in the 8 months I have had this game I only started playing c-mode a couple of weeks ago?

[Dive]

Let the Fo/Ra gather the items while the rest of the team moves on to the next populated room. Too many times I see everyone go for the boxes when they could be finishing off the next room. The support character will get the items and distribute them by putting them at the next locked door.

Speaking of items at the doors, It's a better idea to wait and drop your items at a locked door instead of dropping them as you move to the next room. Due to lag, the person you intend to give it to may very well run right by it before it shows up. Better to hold on to it and drop near the locked door in the next room.

[Crawurm]

Here's a good tip, if you're about to die and have no scape dolls, hang by the door and if you have a handgun or something snipe from the door so you can get exp and level up (also a good idea if you're already low on health and about to level) but if there's no chance for you to dodge the enemy or survive the end area boss then you might want to consider a Disconnect or if you have a hard core C-moder in your team they'll be able to handle the boss without Scapedolls and pass you one

[Dive]

Here is a way to save time in Stage 9 if the team is strong. In Area 45 in the third room, there are 4 switches that require the team to drop a total of 8 weapons and 8 sheilds. The 8 weapons shouldn't be a problem but the team may have to relinquish the barriers they have equipped. If the team is skilled this won't be a factor. Here is an edited map from Mamak showing the detail circled in red.



Doing this will allow the team to bypass 3 rooms.

[Crawurm]

also should note that after each switch has been pressed down with each req. that a Trap will pop up in the middle of the buttons, someone with mech's or 3 people with handguns should try to take care of it so no on takes damage

[Dive]

Oh yea I completely forgot about that Crawurm, thanks

Another tip for new players. In C7-C8 give your scape dolls to the Force, who will then be able to deal out more sustained technique attacks. When the Fo runs out of fluids, they simply die and recover a full TP bar.

If you think you have the skill, give all of your dolls away, if you are uncertain, keep one on hand just in case.

Stage 8
In Area 36, there is a possible shortcut after the second room. You need 4 weapons to open a door. The Fo can go weaponless so the team only needs 3 weapons to drop by the time the second room is clear. However there is a chance that some may drop in the room on the way to the shortcut. If the hunters are confident, they can go weaponless until one drops but this is very risky and requires the Fo to lay down some massive tech damage.

edited map from Mamak detail circled in red.



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Area 40

8 weapons are needed to open a door in the fourth room, then after the next room is cleared, the team needs to split up here to activate swithces to advance. The most efficient way to do this is to have 3 go North and one South, preferably a Hucast or Hucaseal solo, where there is one room of monsters and two switches that need to be activated

After the north room is clear, two players head to the warp and floor switches west, while one goes north to a warp and one more switch, activating it and returning to the locked door which should be open by now.

Split area is circled in red.

[Mute]

I was searching around for some S-Rank grind information and found that it was a little tought to find accurate stats. So, for those interested, here's the grind information and the elements you can add to them from Gallon's Shop quest (after you succesfully complete the Control Tower requirement). Btw, these grinds may be incorrect, so feel free to PM me the true values. ;)

Saber 250
Sword 250
Partisan 200
Blade 200
Slicer 140
Gun 200
Rifle 220
Mechgun 50
Shot 125
Cane 120
Rod 180
Wand 100
Twin 250
Claw 250

Elements
A 50 Jellen, Zalure, Hell, Demon and Arrest
B 40 Beserk, Spirit, King, Chaos and Geist
C 30 Tempest, Blizzard, Burning, HP Drain and TP Drain

[AC9breaker]

Well as my info isn't about shortcuts in c-mode, it can help you in c-mode and if done well it will shave time. First off it is preferable to have an a team with 3 caseals/casts and one fo. Mainly because humans get paralised, can't see traps, and can't use traps. Traps are a big key factor in c-mode. Also just like many things in life location,location,location in cmode plays a helping hand too.I will explain that in the end.

HUNTERS

As I stated before traps are important and very helpful. Don't be nervous about using your traps. Especially in C1 using traps in the first room is good because it immobolize or damages the enemy letting other chars get free hits. Since youre level one you will most likely lvl up by the third room recovering your trap supply. One thing alawys handy to have is a handgun. This is why I prefer HUcaseals over HUcast in c-mode since their ata is higher. they can use guns ealier then hucasts and are less likely to be left open with gigush or sword by a miss. But that dosen't neccisarily mean HUcaseals are better then hucast. That is because hucast are power monsters and when battling nanos or sinows are pretty expedient in taking them out. One thing I notice is that many HUcast players overlook the potential of a slicer. having one of these eliminates the need for a RA in c-mode. That is because with this HUcast are finally able to activate their own traps by shooting at it with the slicer making the battle that much easier. This really doesn't come in to play intill you hit C7

RANGERS

Rangers are pretty busy in c-mode. That is because you must pay attention to all characters on the map. Mainly your members because they will let out traps and it is your role to activate them. But later on in C5-9 you will have to watch hunters and your back since the map will fill up quickly with bogeys and gilleches in c5 tend to shoot you when you don't expect it. So it best to LOCATE yourself somewhere where you can see all and shoot all. So if you notice a gilliche in c5 taking aim at your hunter put a cap in him before he does. Also in C8-9 many rangers get used to staying outside of battle and sniping down baddies, but dont get too comfortable. Especially when chaos bringers are in the room. They will alwys take shoot the player farthest from them wich is usually a ranger or force, and one chaos shot to them usually means death, so stay ALERT. Also in c7-9 don't overlook the worth of a shot. This weapons are useful when a hunter sets a trap in the middle of a Diminean storm and makes it difficult to hit with a gun or sniper.
On a final note rangers should constantly be moving to adjust their aim to protect his teamates.

FORCES
This area is very contraversial because there are many ways to play as a force. Some say just attack. Others say just support. Then there are those that say that ceratin techniques shouldn't be used by forces. But to tell you the truth, that really has no truth. A FO should do what ever he feels just so as long as they get the job done. One thing though FOs should alawys be on item patrol. There is also the debate as to which FO is best for c-mode. Some say FOmarls due to their better defense and support abilieties. But you won't be supporting much in c1-5 and the defense is better it's not like you will lvl your FO to level 100 where the difference shows unlike lvl 18 where the difference is there, but slim. Also others say FOnewearl since their first grade spells are stronger then other FOs and they have more tp too. But im more towards fomars. My reason is that their second grade spells(Gi spells. Ex. Gizonde)are strnger then the other FOs and if you have GI-foie or Gi-zonde in C4, it can make battle-ing Del Rol Le a much faster thing. Plus their shifta and deband range is superior over all other FOs.
But like I said before. As long as you play well and efficiantly and aid your team to complete the objective, there really is no set way to play as a FO.

MISCELLANEOUS (dam how the hell do you spell it <.< )

Hunters try setting of your traps in front of ranger fire
Rangers should use less mates then hunters.
Rangers or a hunter with a gun should take care of traps
The ideal c-mode team is
1HUcast
1HUcaseal
1RAcast/RAcaseal
1Force

And remember, there is no I in team. ... ... ... (but there is an M and E in team wich spells me.) LoL And I wish thee all good luck.

[Bryn]

Just a couple things came to mind after running through 7-9 last night, (well most of 9 ) These tips are somewhat risky and would probably not be implemented in general play if your only interest is in completing the stage. But if you find yourself playing in Alcyone 6, especially with experienced JP players, they are sometimes expected of you.

Stages 7-9

On Belras: In a strategy similar to that of circling Garantz to use his missiles to take out other enemies, Bots purposely use confuse traps on Belras immediately upon entering the room. After confused, Belra spins wildly damaging all enemies in the path of its constant barrage of shooting arms. FOnewearls & FOnewman need to be especially careful to stay out of the way, as Belra’s arm is a one hit kill.

Weapon & Shield Switches. Dive mentions the 4 weapon switch in C8 and the 8 weapon/8 shield switch in C9. In general play most teams only hit these if they happen to have the extra equipment, which really doesn’t happen very often. But, in teams going for time, if in C8 no extra weapons are found, all players will drop their starting weapon, use the FO as primary offense and beat enemies down by hand until weapons drop. In C9 players will drop starting shields/barriers to make up any shortage.

C7 Barrier Shortcut. This is probably general knowledge, but in case those newer to challenge haven’t seen this before: In area 33 of C7 there is a room where a barrier stretches across the entire room. It is possible for a character to wiggle between the wall and rock on the south side of the barrier to gain access to the switch, thus eliminating the need to go the long way around. While this isn’t risky, it may considered by some as…erm…fudging the rules a bit.

[Sheik]

I was doing a C6 game the other night with a JP team the other night and one of them made a symbol chat for the 8 button puzzle in area 28 where you deactivate the barriers in order. The symbol chat showed the numbers for the switches. Sounds like I will be making one of those. That wa a briliant idea. She just kept bringing up the symbol chat as we ran for the buttons. It helped those that did not remember or had a map.

Referring to your sacrificing of equipment...I was playing a FO in a C9 TA JP team (that someone was nice to help me put together) and I dropped not only my wep but my shield as well...it took me a second to think of that, but it opened the shortcut door...after which I had a fun time getting past a stupid foie trap...as it kept knocking my poor FOnewearl down and I had to resta each blow!

Actually I was trying to get two players for a team and since it is hard to communicate in english with a JP player she put together a whole team for me...she gathered up some of her friends that played cmode. That was really nice to do, and I was not expecting it.

I think I have gotten the cmode bug lately...anyone else notice this? heh.

[Dive]

heh that's a great idea. Bryn mentioned to me once that she saw someone's info board that contained that puzzle solution as well. It's better to have one person get the switches so as not to cause confusion. There are 3 hidden rooms off that puzzle room that the other team members can loot. Two of the rooms(or one? have a pop up shooting trap that a Ranger will need to disable.

[Sheik]

QUOTE (Dive @ Jun 18 2003, 01:13 PM)

heh that's a great idea. Bryn mentioned to me once that she saw someone's info board that contained that puzzle solution as well. It's better to have one person get the switches so as not to cause confusion. There are 3 hidden rooms off that puzzle room that the other team members can loot. Two of the rooms(or one? have a pop up shooting trap that a Ranger will need to disable.

When I play I try to get all three to get the switches because they are so far apart...especially if you play for TA. I try to get the next switch...not the one they want so the next barrier is already down and they do not have to call it out.

[Dive]

If you have a team that isn't as together as you would like there can be players running around stepping on switches like madmen. This is better for a team not as concerned with a blistering time.

It sounds like you have a firm grasp on Time Attack, I applaud you.

[Sheik]

QUOTE (Dive @ Jun 18 2003, 02:24 PM)

It sounds like you have a firm grasp on Time Attack, I applaud you.

I try but most of it accounts for having these maps at my finger tips to know exactly where to go...in accordance to everyone else.

I compled some stuff from PSOw into a nice MS Word document. I will post the link here...I hope no one at PSOw gets upset at me for posting this.

ftp://ftp.drassal.net/public/pso/challenge.doc